Slow progress on the bug, a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. I'm working on wiring, plumbing, and exhaust at the same time as I run into blockages.
Wiring:
Fascinating and tedious, I love and hate wiring. I'm using the existing engine harness to create a new one using a couple weatherpak 22-pin connectors for quick disconnect. I'm on the first part of this which is simply figuring out what needs to be on the engine side of the bulkhead connectors and getting the ends terminated. COPs, injectors, cam angle sensors and crank angle sensor are done at the moment. Also related to wiring, I found a good deal on an open box Aim MXL Pista so I'll be using that for the dash. I like that it's compatible with the MS3X can-bus, a big factor in the decision, and I'm wondering if I can feed sensor data back to the MS3X from the Pista.
Plumbing:
I ordered a handful of 1.5" silicon bends and couplers for the cooling system, so those are ready and waiting. I want to pick up some stainless 1.5" pipe and get it bent to hug the underside of the bug, that will be lighter than the reinforced gates hydraulic hose I have I need to find a good diagram of the engine coolant routes to make sure the swirl pot and turbo are plumbed correctly. I've been waiting on a fuel surge tank, which finally arrived yesterday, to finish plumbing the fuel system. Now that it's here I can finish the AN hoses and be done with it. I've been on the lookout for ideas on how to plumb an accusump into the ej25 but still keep the oil/water cooler. Everything I see just replaces the oil cooler with a sandwich plate for the accusump.
Exhaust:
I bought way more than I need so I have plenty of materials to screw things up a couple times. Turbo back, the exhaust will only be about 2 ft. long at most. I got a 3" v-band output flange for the turbo, some 180 and 45 degree 3" pipe, a couple 3" v-band clamps, and a 3" Borla xr-1 oval muffler which hopefully takes some bite out of the exhaust volume. If not I think I might have a 3" supertrapp floating around which should do the job. Ideally, I need to be below 92db to run at Lagua Seca in my back yard, or shell out for no-limit days.
In racing news I had a great event a week ago Sunday. Event #8 autoxing with NorCalUFO in Marina, and it was a fairly fast but technical course that wasn't easy to read. I've been in a heated points battle with my nemesis all year, and this was his last chance to take the championship away from me. We ran in the afternoon and since we had a 2 driver car our tires were getting pretty hot. Ian (nemesis), on the other hand got screwed by the grid master, a newbie cutting in line, and the karts, so all his runs were basically on cold tires. I pulled a 48.1 to his 49.0 cinching the OSP championship points race. I'm currently 3rd overall with 2 races to go, not sure I can swing 2nd overall but it's worth a shot. The downside to this, is that the Cayman has killed my poor tires, so after this season it's time for another set.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0qXe9IpJjg